UC San Diego School of Medicine’s state-of-the-art Medical Education and Telemedicine Building houses clinical and surgical simulation labs that strive to improve communication among the next genera

The patient groaned, grasped his chest and slumped forward in Exam Room 6.

A nurse quickly moved to the man’s side, coaching him to take deep breaths while another nurse increased the flow to his oxygen mask. Two doctors waited to administer a critical dose of nitroglycerin, which would help restore blood flow to the heart.

Teaching moments like this were impossible for the UC San Diego School of Medicine just a few years ago, said Wallace, director of the university’s professional development center.

Now, the 100,000-square-foot Medical Education and Telemedicine Building has fundamentally changed the way the county’s only medical school trains the next generation of health care professionals and helps maintain the skills of those already in practice.

The heights of high tech are found on the facility’s lower level, where clinical and surgical simulation labs allow faculty to teach hands-on skills — from minimally invasive robotic surgery to proper bedside manners.

Nearly every room in the building has at least one video camera connected to a high-speed computer network that allows students in one room to see what’s going on in another, or to review practice sessions after the fact.

There’s also the element of drama, provided by live actors, computerized dummy patients and sophisticated equipment that can mimic an earthquake or a power outage.

The building itself is meant to be a radical departure from UC San Diego’s past medical training. It was designed to put numerous types of learning right next to one another, instead of being spread across different buildings or even campuses. The proximity allows for major exercises such as the two-day drill this month that included the patient in Exam Room 6.

“This is about trying things out and doing them,” said Dr. Maria Savoia, the university’s dean of medical education. “It’s not just sitting on your behind and listening. It’s about practical application.”

Communication is key

Back in Exam Room 6, one of 18 exam rooms in the facility’s lower level, it was becoming clearer that the patient, played by actor Bryan Charles Feldman, shouldn’t be sent home. His symptoms called out for surgery. The team of two physicians and two nurses agreed that he needed to go to the emergency room.

In the old days, when the university’s simulation capabilities were housed in several small, hut-like buildings, this scenario might have been a one-act play.

The new structure contains several fully realized emergency rooms, enabling training coordinators to write a second act, with intermission consisting of a quick wheelchair trip down a hallway of a few hundred feet.

Soon it was time to practice one of the most pivotal moments in health care: the patient handoff.

The Joint Commission, which accredits more than 20,000 health facilities nationwide, estimates that 80 percent of serious medical errors involve miscommunication between caregivers when patients are handed off from one staffing team to another.